Balancing Acts
by Kristen257
Summary: Dawn uses a four-letter word. Not that one! Get your minds out of the gutter. Dawn says the wish word. To teach her a lesson about making wishes Buffy will use her contacts to make Dawn a temporary balancing demon and undo other people’s wishes.
1. Default Chapter

**Author:** Kristen  
**Series:** Balancing Acts 1/?  
**Chapter Title:** The Wish  
**Email:**   
**Website:** Scribblings  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters from the X-Men. I also don't own Buffy, Dawn, or Anya from the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  
**Rating:** PG-13 for a couple swear words  
**Spoilers:** There aren't really any for X-Men but we'll just say general knowledge of who the X-Men are and for Buffy there are a couple spoilers from Season 6. This is set a few months after the Season 6 finale.  
**Summary:** Dawn uses a four-letter word. Not that one! Get your minds out of the gutter. Dawn says the wish word. To teach her a lesson about making wishes Buffy will use her contacts to make Dawn a temporary balancing demon and undo other people's wishes.

**AN:** This isn't going to be like my regular fics. This will be more like a series of one shot fics rather than an ongoing multi-chapter fic. Each new part is going to have a beginning, middle, and end and this will be a multi-fandom crossover. I'm trying something new here and will use this series as a chance to get my feet wet in a couple new fandoms. X-Men is up as the first fandom**The Wish**"Oops." Dawn looked at her new surroundings with chagrin.

"Oops! Is that all you have to say?" Buffy leveled her sister with a stern look.

Dawn shrugged her shoulders and offered, "I'm sorry?"

"Oh, you're going to be," Buffy replied. "As soon as we get out of this mess, you are so grounded," she said pointing a finger at Dawn.

Dawn sighed in resignation as Buffy turned to survey the office she and Dawn had been dropped into, the office of Professor Xavier. Dawn should know better than to idly wish for anything, especially to wish that they could meet the X-Men after watching the second X-Men movie. She was going to make Dawn recite 'I will not make wishes' every ten minutes until the words finally managed to ingrain themselves into her head.

This was so embarrassing. She couldn't even veg out in her pajamas and watch movies anymore without something Hellmouth-y happening. Faced with so many threatening people she really wished she was wearing something other than a tiny pink cotton tank top and her favorite pajama bottoms with those cute pigs that reminded her of Mr. Gordo all over them. Dawn was dressed in similar attire though her tank top was blue and the pajama bottoms featured the Scooby Doo characters and the Mystery Machine. This was so very not how she wanted to appear. Of course Buffy hadn't really wanted to be doing any disappearing or appearing anywhere tonight, hence the embarrassing pajamas.

No, if she had really wanted to be here she would have dressed much more appropriately. Why couldn't Dawn have wished for this to happen when she was attired in something less humiliating? Who was going to take the Slayer seriously when she was dressed in pants that had cute little piggies all over them? And looking around the room, she wished very much to be taken seriously. Because it looked like she was going to have to do some fast talking to get them out of the latest mess Dawn had gotten them into.

Buffy glanced around the room and took in the sight of the Wolverine with claws out and Cyclops with hand on his sunglasses, prepared to remove them at a moment's notice. She would feel much more comfortable if his hand was nowhere near his eyes. At least he was staring straight at her and not Dawn, she noted with some relief. If she was hit, she knew she had a much better chance of recovering from the injury than Dawn ever would.

Nightcrawler was there with teeth bared menacingly and an intimidating look upon his face. She noticed uneasily that Rogue was slipping her gloves off. The last thing Buffy wanted was for Rogue to get anywhere near her and take her Slayer abilities. She started cataloguing all possible strategies for taking Rogue out if she had to. Buffy knew she would need all her Slayer powers if it came down to a hand to hand fight with Logan. Why did Dawn have to get her into situations like these?

Bobby stood next to Rogue with hands held out before him ready to ice her and Dawn, Buffy knew at a moment's notice. A chill went down her spine just imagining it. Buffy was a California girl born and bred and the thought of being frozen solid in ice was very unpalatable.

Storm's eyes had whitened and a strong wind had picked up in the room seemingly out of nowhere. Buffy heartily hoped a lightning strike wasn't forthcoming. That couldn't happen indoors, right? Buffy turned to the last occupant of the room and winced. Professor Xavier was looking at her with a glare to rival Giles.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my office?" The Professor asked sternly.

Buffy slowly pulled Dawn behind her. With the tension in the room she wasn't taking any chances. She didn't care if it looked silly making her tall sister hide behind Buffy's petite frame. They were going to have to go through her before they could get to Dawn. "I hate Tuesdays," she muttered. Everything always happens on Tuesdays.

Dawn began to babble. "We're no one really; just two sisters who were having a movie night, not making plans for breaking and entering. I mean it's a complete accident we're here, the result of a harmless lapse in judgement. I may have made a tiny, teensy, weensy," she brought her fingers together to emphasize how microscopic, "little error and accidentally transported us here. A simple mistake really," She laughed nervously. "Anybody could have done it."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "And yet anybody usually learns from the mistake the first time, not repeats it," she said referring to the wish Dawn had made that trapped everyone in the house the night of Buffy's birthday party.

Dawn glared at Buffy. "I thought we were going to discuss this when we got home, not here in front of everybody," she hissed. "And you said you wouldn't bring that up again. I paid Anya back already."

"Oh don't worry, Dawn, we'll definitely be having a long discussion when we get home," Buffy whispered in a promise over her shoulder. "And I wouldn't be bringing it up if you hadn't repeated your mistake and topped it with this fiasco," she hissed angrily. "You are in so much trouble."

This wasn't the time for that however. Like she had promised, the discussion could wait until they were back home, hopefully in one piece. What couldn't wait was ensuring they stayed that way and actually did make it out of here.

Buffy tried for a friendly, innocent smile; the same one she used on Giles when she was in trouble. It had marginal success with the Professor who relaxed a little at the sight of it. Her smile grew a little brighter at this good sign. "My sister has accidentally and irresponsibly," at that she leveled a glare at Dawn before turning back to the hostile group, "brought us to this dimension by mistake. If you'll just stand down we'll get out of your hair as soon as possible."

"What a load of bullshit," Logan growled. What they had done was use their mutant powers to break in and not come from another dimension. They didn't smell human to his senses and that Buffy person, what kind of name was that anyway, radiated a predator's presence. He didn't trust her farther than he could throw her, which considering her size was probably was a good distance, but he still didn't trust her. There was something about her that marked her as dangerous despite this innocent act she was trying to pull. They were definitely mutants and had come up with the most ridiculous story to save their asses now that they had been caught, Logan thought.

"Professor?" Scott asked. He kept his hand on the frames of his glasses, not relaxing his grip one bit. Buffy knew he was asking the professor if they were telling the truth.

Buffy watched the Professor narrow his eyes in concentration and seconds later she felt a delicate probing in her mind. Buffy was no stranger to having her mind invaded. The Master and Dracula had done it and Willow had done the same before when Buffy was catatonic after Dawn had been taken by Glory. Though it was against Buffy's nature to let anyone but Willow do so she let the Professor in. She knew it was their best hope of getting out of here without a fight.

She was rewarded for her efforts a minute later by the Professor's words of reassurance. "They are telling the truth. They are indeed from another dimension and the young lady did indeed make a rather amusing error that resulted in their appearance here." He would think Dawn's wish was funny, Buffy thought exasperatedly as she relaxed out of the fighting stance she had been in and let Dawn move out from behind her.

"What kind of error?" Storm asked curiously as the rest of the X-Men relaxed their aggressive poses. The wind in the room was dying down and her eyes had returned to normal. Buffy noted with relief that Rogue was pulling her gloves back on and Scott's hand had fallen to his side.

"That is not important," The Professor said, eyes twinkling. He smiled as he gestured for Wolverine to stand down, who seemed reluctant to do so. "What is important is that it was unintentional." He turned back to Buffy and Dawn with interest. "Will you be able to get yourselves back?"

"Yeah," Buffy answered. "I just need to make a call to a friend. Anya can take us home."

"You can use my phone," Professor Xavier offered.

Buffy shook her head. "It's not really that kind of call." The X-Men stared in bewilderment as she chanted a few words in another language then called out loudly, "Anyanka, I need a little help here!"

They were surprised when another woman suddenly appeared two feet away from their mysterious guests. "Who summons-?" She paused at the sight of the visitors. "Buffy! Dawn! What are you doing here?"

Buffy glanced exasperatedly at Dawn. "Someone still hasn't learned not to say the W word."

"It was an accident!" Dawn cried out in protest. "And I really wish you would quit harping on it," she muttered.

Buffy just snorted then ignored her to speak to Anya. "So could you take us back?"

"D'Hoffryn isn't going to be happy that I'm interfering again," Anya replied, hesitating.

Buffy got a considering look on her face. "Tell him to come to me. Maybe we can work something out and convince Dawn of the dangers of wishing at the same time."

"Buffy, you can't!" Dawn protested, frantically.

Buffy rolled her eyes in exasperation. After all that she had done for Dawn, all the different times she had saved her, even going so far as to die for her once, the thought that Buffy would let anything terrible happen to Dawn was insulting. "I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you, I'm just going to let you work off the price of Anya's interference. Your punishment will be left to me."

"But Buffy-" Dawn started.

Her sister interrupted her with a held up hand. "No. You need to do this. What if you had wished something far more dangerous? What if Anya wasn't here to help us out?"

Dawn grudgingly admitted Buffy had a point there. "Fine, but I don't have to like it."

"I didn't expect you would," Buffy said wryly. She held out a hand to Dawn. "Let's go home."

Anya snapped her fingers and with a flash of light the trio disappeared.

**End The Wish**

Up next, Dawn works off the price of Anya's interference.


	2. Paying the Price

**Author: Kristen  
Series: Balancing Acts 2/?  
Chapter Title: Paying the Price  
Email:  
Website: Scribblings  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Buffy. Does anyone else find disclaimers depressing?  
Rating: PG-13  
Spoilers: Set after Season 6 for Buffy  
Summary: Dawn works off the price of Anya's reversal of her wish for D'Hoffryn. **

**  
  
AN: This isn't Dawn's full punishment yet. In the previous fic Buffy mentioned that Dawn would have to work off Anya's reversal and that would be separate from Buffy's punishment. Yeah, some might say I'm being a little hard on Dawn by doing that but I don't think so. Dawn's gotta learn caution and I have to say it's going to be fun teaching her. grin This also isn't a crossover chapter either. It's more of an interlude before we can get back to that. **

**  
  
Paying the Price **

**D'Hoffryn surveyed Dawn from his throne in glee. "I've gotta say, Dawn," he began as he stroked his chin. "Your wish has been one of the best things to happen to me in a long time. "I've needed a personal assistant for eons!" **

**Dawn rolled her eyes. D'Hoffryn had been going on like this for hours. All day she'd had to listen to how you could never depend upon anyone evil being a good assistant and that the nature of his work required someone who wouldn't mind being around evil. It was a terrible catch-22 and he'd suffered from it for centuries. On and on. If Dawn heard one more story about the way D'Hoffryn had suffered from the lack she thought she'd scream. **

**She'd bet this was the real reason he couldn't keep an assistant. **

**Anyone who listened to him talk for more than two minutes probably killed themselves or him in an attempt to make it stop. **

**"And then Merle left in the 15th century to the side of good. Good, I tell you. And then to rub salt in the wound he said I drove him to it. The insult! Can you imagine the nerve?" **

**Dawn pretended to nod sympathetically while she inwardly agreed that D'Hoffryn could drive anyone to do anything crazy. Even turn a vengeance demon good. **

**"Blaming someone of my magnificence of such a hateful thing. The wishes I performed, the vengeance I've handed out…" **

**Dawn tuned him out, making sympathetic noises when he seemed to pause for them as she went over his filing system. It looked like it hadn't been updated in ages. She pulled a scroll out of a chest and peered at it closely wondering what material it was made of. **

**Was that-? **

**_EW!_ **

**Dawn hastily dropped the scroll, which she now realized was made of human skin, and scrubbed her hand upon her jeans. _Oh, gross! Yuck! Disgusting!_ Now she had the germs all over her jeans. She stared in horror at her hand that had just touched _That Thing._ **

**How could they use it? What had they done with the rest of that person? Nausea rose in her stomach as she imagined a few possibilities. She didn't even want to know how they had gotten it off of a person and prepared it for use in writing. Some things just didn't bear thinking about. A shudder went down her spine and she felt very sorry for whoever had been the unfortunate victim. **

**Dawn thanked the gods she had hung around Willow long enough to pick up a cleansing spell and she quickly recited it. Twice, in fact. She didn't want any reminders, she only wished she could use a cleansing spell on her brain. **

**She used a pen to unroll the scroll and determine what information it held. **

**As payment for Anya's undoing of her wish, Dawn was going through all of D'Hoffryn's files, updating them, and adding the information into the computer system D'Hoffryn had finally gotten. It was a massive job and one he hadn't been able to get anyone to finish because of the sheer size of the project. **

**Hence, D'Hoffryn's current diatribe on the lack of good help that was still going strong. He hadn't even noticed Dawn's upset and was still prattling on. **

**Dawn stared in dismay at the box that alarmingly held more than one scroll of the same material as the first she'd pulled out. **

**She was going to need a pair of gloves because there was no way she was touching those. Once was bad enough. **

**Dawn set the box aside to work on later when she had some gloves and reached for the next. **

**It was going to be a long day. **

**  
  
End Paying the Price **

**Up Next, Dawn finds out what her punishment is from Buffy. Feedback is appreciated! **


	3. Decisions

**Author:** Kristen 

**Series Title:** Balancing Acts 3/? 

**Chapter Title:** Decisions 

**Website:** http:magical-worlds.us/scribblings/ 

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters from Buffy. Does anyone else find disclaimers depressing? 

**Rating:** PG-13 for a couple swear words 

**Spoilers:** Set after Season 6 for Buffy. 

**Summary:** Dawn finds out exactly what Buffy's got in mind for her punishment. 

**AN:** Just one more non-crossover interlude. I promise the next one will be a crossover chapter. By the way, any fandom requests? I may not be able to do all of them but don't be afraid to ask. 

**_Decisions_**

"I have to do _what?_" 

"You have to work the rest of the summer undoing other people's wishes," Buffy repeated with calm in the face of her sister's irritation. Buffy was sitting casually on the couch as if she had just remarked on the good weather they were having and not Dawn's upcoming punishment. 

"That's what I thought you said, but you can't be serious, Buffy!" Dawn's voice was loud with disbelief. "You can't turn me into a balance demon. What kind of warped punishment is that?" 

Dawn started pacing around the living room. "No," she shook her head and then began the standard teenage negotiations to get out of an unwanted punishment. "Ground me, stop training me, take away anything you want," she turned to face Buffy again then continued, "but don't make me do this," she pleaded. 

"It's already done," Buffy said. "Besides you won't be a balance demon, there's procedures and paperwork…" she trailed off thinking of the rigmarole involved in actually becoming a balance demon before getting back on track. "It's no different than you working in the Magic Box; it's just a slightly different job. You'll only be granted the powers of a balance demon for the rest of the summer not actually be turned into one. It's more like an internship than anything. It's not permanent and you'd know that if you had listened to me when I said it the first time." 

"But Buffy, surely this qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment?" Dawn whined. 

Buffy rolled her eyes. For the millionth time she wished Mom hadn't died and left her in charge of Dawn. Surely she hadn't been this bad as a teenager, had she? Buffy looked back over the years and winced. This was Karma she knew it. Stupid Karma. 

Dawn got to her knees and gave it one last effort. She let her lower lip tremble and brought out the puppy eyes that always worked on Spike. Her sister was obviously heartless because she remained unmoved. 

"Honestly Dawn, you're acting like I've condemned you to hell. It won't be that bad. And maybe it'll finally teach you to quit saying the W word when you see what harm it does firsthand." 

"But surely I've been punished enough? I've learned my lesson. I swear I have! D'Hoffryn scared me straight, I'll never do it again!" Dawn shuddered in remembrance of the two weeks she had recently spent overhauling D'Hoffryn's filing system while working as his personal assistant and being forced to listen to his stories of the vengeance he'd handed out. Some of those stories made the ones she'd overheard Anya tell seem like fluffy fairy tales. That was definitely cruel and unusual punishment. She was going to be scarred for life and she told Buffy so. 

"Good grief, quit being so dramatic." 

"But it was that bad Buffy. And now you want me to do this? Who knows what horrors I'll be subjected to?" Dawn said as abandoned her begging stance and flopped onto the couch next to Buffy in the standard dramatic pose every teenager seemed to know instinctively when faced with something they didn't want to do. 

"Dawn, it's an internship. I've negotiated things very carefully. You won't be undoing any wishes high on the magnitude scale. Besides…" Buffy sighed, turning serious. "This will give you a chance to really think about things. I am training you, Dawn but it hasn't gone any farther than defense. This life, always fighting, it's hard Dawn. You're going to face some horrible things, have to make hard choices." Buffy's throat tightened thinking of the hard choices she'd been forced to make since she became a Slayer. "I want a better life for you. You don't have to do this. You can still get out. So I want you to do this, not just as a punishment, but as a taste of what you're getting into if you decide you want to be a part of all this," Buffy said as she waved her hand around the living room where weapons were laid on the coffee table and spilling out of the weapons chest, books were piled haphazardly on the floor and stands from the last research session and still more were on the shelves. Books about spells, and demons, prophecies and other dimensions. Newly carved stakes were piled nearby in preparation for tonight's patrol. 

"You should see what you're up against and these wishes you'll be undoing are just a taste of what we're fighting, what can happen. I've tried to shelter you, Dawn and there are things that I've faced that you don't know about. I've never wanted this life for you, but it's your life and your choice so I want you to be really sure when you make it," Buffy said earnestly. "You need to be really sure about what you're getting into. There's no going back so I want you to do this, Dawn, and promise me you'll really think about this before you make your decision to be a full-fledged Scooby, all right?" 

Suddenly Dawn was unsure. She thought she had always wanted to be a Scooby. She had hated feeling left out and like an unwanted nuisance in their little game. But now she really listened to what Buffy was saying and Dawn was starting to feel a bit scared. Suddenly, this was a lot more serious than she had ever imagined it to be. Looking back, she realized that this life was hard on all of them. They all had old, weary eyes as if they had seen and done too much. They walked around sometimes as if the weight of the world was on their shoulders and Dawn was suddenly realizing that it was. 

She looked into Buffy's steady gaze and noticed how tired she seemed. There was a world of pain and experiences there that Dawn knew nothing about. Buffy seemed to have lived three lifetimes in the span of seven years and looked to be resigned to living three lifetimes more. As if she knew what Dawn was seeing a mask fell over Buffy's eyes, replaced with concern. "Promise me, you'll really take the time to think." 

Still unsettled by her realizations Dawn wordlessly nodded. 

"Good," Buffy said and patted Dawn's knee as she rose. "You don't have to leave until Monday so that gives me the rest of the weekend to knock you about the backyard." She stopped then lifted a hand to her lips in fake remorse. "Oops!" she said. Buffy smirked then walked out of the room with the words trailing over her shoulder, "I meant train, of course." 

"Buffy!" Dawn yelled in exasperation. She shook her head then rose to follow Buffy with a small smile. Let Buffy enjoy herself. It was nice to see that world weary, resigned look replaced with amusement, even if it was at Dawn's expense. Besides, she'd wipe it off soon enough. Dawn had a new move she'd been wanting to try, guaranteed to bring her sister down for just a second, or so she'd heard. 

Dawn had actually tuned in to D'Hoffryn's ramblings once when he went on about his glory days and a wish he'd granted to a Watcher. The Watcher had wished to see his Slayer brought low because she hadn't been listening to him. So D'Hoffryn had sent in a vampire and he mentioned one of the moves the vampire used to bring the Slayer down. The Slayer had died and the Watcher had been struck by remorse in his unthinking words too late to do anything about it. 

Dawn had been royally pissed off at one more story of how the Watchers were ruining the lives of the Slayers, by trying to keep them under the Council's thumb but she had taken note of the move. If it worked on a Slayer once, it could probably work on vampires and demons too. 

Right now Dawn just wanted to see if it would work on a Slayer like D'Hoffryn said it once did. It would be nice if Buffy were the one flipped to the hard ground for once, she thought wistfully as she headed out to the backyard with a bounce in her step. 

**_End Decisions_**

_Next up, Dawn gets her first assignment._


End file.
